Larry A. Sargent MD, FACS, FAAP
Larry A. Sargent MD FACS FAAP
Medical Director/Founder
Cleft and Craniofacial Center
Larry A. Sargent, MD is a native of Atlanta, GA where he excelled in both academics and athletics growing up. He was the recipient of a Bobby Dodd Scholarship to the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he studied mathematics and played baseball. Upon graduating Georgia Tech, he attended medical school at Emory University School of Medicine graduating in 1977. He completed General Surgery and Plastic Surgery training at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. While at Johns Hopkins he studied Craniofacial Surgery under Dr. Paul Manson and then furthered his education under Dr. Paul Tessier in Paris, France.
Dr. Sargent served four years in the U.S. Army at The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. There he trained military plastic surgeons and was on the faculty at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences from 1983-1987. He was Chief of the Craniofacial Service and started the first U.S. Military Craniofacial Center in the country, serving all branches of the Armed Forces. For his service, he was a recipient of the Army Commendation Medal for Distinguished Service. In addition, Dr. Sargent spent several years at The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research studying experimental bone healing. He pioneered the study of experimental sternal bone healing in the baboon model, leading to his design of the first sternal plating system. Dr. Sargent has been instrumental in the design and improvement of maxillofacial plating systems and designed a plate used around the country for treatment of orbital fractures.
Dr. Sargent was recruited to Chattanooga and the University of Tennessee 29 years ago. He has been Professor and Chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at the UT College of Medicine for the past 20 years and is the senior partner of The Plastic Surgery Group. He has been Program Director of an outstanding Plastic Surgery Residency for 18 years, and under his leadership has graduated 42 board certified plastic surgeons.
Dr. Sargent founded and serves as director of the nationally recognized Craniofacial Center at Children’s Hospital at Erlanger and subsequently founded the Craniofacial Foundation of America in 1989. The Craniofacial Center has served patients with facial deformities in over 40 states and several countries.
Dr. Sargent is Board Certified in Plastic Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, American Academy of Pediatrics, International Society of Craniofacial Surgeons, American Association of Plastic Surgeons, Association of Academic Chairman of Plastic Surgery, American Association of Maxillofacial Surgeons, Plastic Surgery Research Council, and an active member of the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. He is past President of the Tennessee Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.
Dr. Sargent is internationally renowned as a leader in craniofacial surgery, maxillofacial trauma, and has a special interest and expertise in cosmetic surgery. He has given over 160 presentations worldwide, authored over 100 publications and written several books. He has written invited papers describing his innovative techniques that have been featured in leading plastic surgery journals, as well as appearing on the cover.
Dr. Sargent’s mission work has been featured in award winning documentaries on TLC, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic channels internationally. He has appeared on the Emmy Award winning and nationally syndicated show The Doctors, discussing his innovative techniques in craniofacial surgery. Dr. Sargent has dedicated his career to the treatment of children with facial deformities and has led numerous mission trips around the world.
Dr. Sargent has distinguished himself as an academician, educator, and one of the most prominent craniofacial surgeons in the nation. His skill as a surgeon and technical excellence of his results are acknowledged universally among plastic surgeons and serve as a standard for his profession. For this Dr. Sargent was inducted into The Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars in 2002, the highest honor a postdoctoral alumni can receive.
In January 2016 Dr. Sargent received the high honor of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Erlanger/UT Health System Foundation. This honored Dr. Sargent for his commitment to improving the health of our region by contributing a lifetime of medical benefits to the community. This award encompasses the recipients unquestionable character and commitment to the healing mission and values of Erlanger/University of Tennessee.
In July 2019 and 2020 Dr. Sargent was selected for the 2019 BEST of SALT LAKE CITY AWARD in the category of Plastic Surgeon. In addition, in 2019 Dr. Sargent was awarded The Hans Wilhelmsen, MD, DDS, lecturer in the
Craniofacial Sciences at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, The University of Maryland School
of Medicine, and The University of Maryland School of Dentistry. He was the 23rd recipient of this prestigious award.
Education:
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Military Service:
Dr. Larry A. Sargent, Major U.S. Army
Received the Army Commendation Medal
Exceptional Meritorious Service as a Plastic Surgeon at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for starting the first Military Craniofacial Surgery Program serving all armed forces.
University of Tennessee, College of Medicine.
Larry A. Sargent MD, FACS, FAAP
Professor and Chairman
Department of Plastic Surgery
Program Director Plastic Surgery Residency
Director and Founder Tennessee Craniofacial Center
The University of Tennessee College of Medicine
30 Years of Service
Societies:
Honors:
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To honor the significant accomplishments of men and women who spent part of their careers at Johns Hopkins, the Society of Scholars was created by the board of trustees in May 1967 on the recommendation of former president Milton S. Eisenhower.
The society--the first of its kind in the nation--inducts former postdoctoral fellows and former junior or visiting faculty at Johns Hopkins who have gained marked distinction in their fields of physical, biological, medical, social or engineering sciences or in the humanities and for whom at least five years have elapsed since their last Hopkins affiliation.
The Committee of the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, whose members are equally distributed among the academic divisions, elects the scholars from the candidates nominated by the academic divisions that have programs for postdoctoral fellows. There are currently 430 members in the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars.
Baroness Erlanger/University of Tennessee
Lifetime Achievement Award for
Integrity, Commitment and Contributions to
Healthcare
National Television Appearances:
Dr. Sargent’s Appearances on The Emmy Award Winning Nationally Syndicated TV Show "The Doctors"
"The Girl with the Clover Leaf Skull"
Dr. Sargent’s Appearances on The Emmy Award Winning Nationally Syndicated TV Show "The Doctors"
"Baby Saved by Cutting-Edge Skull Surgery"
During a routine checkup when she was seven months pregnant, Crystal was told by her doctor that her blood pressure was alarmingly high, and she had high amounts of protein present in her urine – disturbing signs of preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication that can lead to serious or fatal outcomes for mother and baby. Then, she was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome, a disorder that occurs in approximately 1 to 2 out of 1,000 pregnancies and causes a reduction in blood platelet count. To save Crystal’s life, as well as that of her unborn baby, doctors performed an emergency C-section.
Crystal’s husband, Richard, says he was relieved when he heard his newborn daughter, Zoey, utter her first cry. Zoey was immediately taken to the NICU, where it was discovered that part of her skull was prematurely fused, meaning surgeons had to act fast to ensure her brain would have space to grow normally.
Craniofacial surgeon Dr. Larry Sargent explains that Zoey was born with isolated craniosynostosis, which occurs approximately once in every 2,200 births. The condition occurs when one or more of the joints between the bones in the skull close prematurely, preventing a baby’s brain from growing in its natural shape. Left untreated, the condition can cause increased intracranial pressure, resulting in blindness, seizures, brain damage or death.
To correct the defect, Dr. Sargent performed a cutting-edge treatment called a cranial distraction, which involves separating the fused bones and installing a distractor that can be manually cranked daily by the parents to allow the skull and brain to slowly expand in the appropriate shape.
FACES IN THE FOREST
Documentary that follows American craniofacial surgeon, Dr. Larry Sargent, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at the University of Tennessee, and his surgical team as they travel to Peru to perform free surgery on children suffering from facial deformities, including cleft lips, cleft palates, and encephaloceles -- a malformation where the brain pushes through the front of the skull.
Watch This Ground-Breaking Documentary Now!
Dr. Sargent Recognized